SESSION 810 Friday, April 15, 10:15am - 11:15am Track: Industry Insights Do What You Do Best, Every Day! Jeremy Hart Director of IT Professional Effectiveness, First American Title jhart@firstam.com Session Description Truly great companies are built on the unique talents of their employees;and, more importantly, on how leaders utilize those talents. The reality is, many organizations are startlingly inefficient at capitalizing on the strengths of their people. In fact, some studies say nearly 80 percent of employees feel miscast in their current roles. Attend this session to learn a practical approach to developing a strengths-building process for your organization and ensuring you get the most out of yourself and your team. Speaker Background Jeremy is the Director of IT Professional Effectiveness at the First American Corporation. His background includes more than a decade of hands on experience in implementing best practices within a fortune 500 financial organization. In 2013 Jeremy founded the IT University within First American and has instituted numerous initiatives to ensure the IT staff have the skills needed to meet the ongoing needs of the business. He has spoken numerous times at past itsmf/hdi conferences.
Do What You Do Best Every Day! Jeremy Hart Learner Responsibility Discipline Harmony Analytical Who Am I?
Do What You Do Best Every Day Understanding your talents Mindfully choosing to use them VS. Stand Up If You Always talk to people in elevators, airplanes, grocery stores, and wherever you go have a color-coded or otherwise organized closet write down a list of things to do, and stick to it make a list of things to do on weekends need to pick someone to race while driving ask too many questions push the elevator button to remind the elevator that you are there
How does this sound to you? If you try hard enough, you can excel at anything! Conventional Approach to Development Maintain each person s strengths and work on fixing weaknesses Identify Improvement Areas Develop an Improvement Plan
Then things changed Strengths-Based Approach to Development Focus on each person s strengths and manage around weaknesses Identify Talents Develop Strengths
This is Very Different Focus on what s right about us Manage weaknesses Some terms Talent A naturally occurring pattern of thought, feeling or behavior that can be productively applied (who you are). Strength the ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance (what you do).
Gallup s Talent Themes Strengths Profile - Achiever People exceptionally talented in the Achiever Theme work hard and possess a great deal of stamina. They take immense satisfaction in being busy and productive.
Achiever in Action I am (being) A hard worker I will (doing) Set the pace for production I bring (contribution) Intensity and stamina of effort I need (requirement) Freedom to work at my own pace I love (value) Completing tasks I hate (value) A lack of diligence Metaphor/Image Competing a race, getting to the finish line Barrier Label Work is more important than people Now for the BIG Question. SO WHAT??
Employee Engagement Gallup reports that only 32% of US employees are engaged in their work. This number has not changed significantly since Gallup began measuring engagement in 2000. Employee Engagement Understand what their organization is trying to achieve and why Enthusiastic about their team s/organizati on s goals 37% 20% 20% 20% 15% Have a clear line of sight between their tasks and their team s/organization s goals Fully trust the organization they work for Feel their organization fully enables them to execute key goals Source: Stephen Covey, 8 th Habit, slide is courtesy of Kirk Weisler 16
Employee Engagement Suppose a soccer team had these same scores: Only 2 know what position they play, and know exactly what they are supposed to do Only 4 of 11 know which goal is theirs All but 2 players would, in some way, be competing against their own team members, rather than the opponent Only 2 would care Source: Stephen Covey, 8 th Habit, slide is courtesy of Kirk Weisler 17 Strengths-Based Development PEOPLE WHO FOCUS ON THEIR STRENGTHS are three TIMES as likely to report having an excellent quality of life are six TIMES as likely to be engaged in their jobs
People Working From Their Strengths look forward to going to work have more positive than negative interactions with coworkers treat customers better tell their friends they work for a great company achieve more on a daily basis have more positive, creative, and innovative moments It s Time to Do Something Name Claim Aim
Name Your Talent Themes By Identifying your talents: Take the Clifton s StrengthsFinder Assessment Claim Your Talent Themes By gaining an understanding and appreciation of your talents and strengths. Focused attention creates openings for understanding ourselves, our situation, and the way forward. Engage a strengths-coach to help you on your journey.
Aim Your Talent Themes By intentionally investing in the development of your talents. Achieve more by actively exploring ways to use your talents (Performance Management). The Call to Action Each of us is uniquely talented with vast potential to be exceptional Most people don t know what their talents are Everyone has the opportunity to transform their talents into strengths You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by making the right choice
Thank you for attending this session. Please don t forget to complete a session evaluation!